A dry cell is little can than produces low voltage DC
current. When you use them in groups they are called batteries. They produce power with various chemical reactions. Coming
along are new type of graphene batteries that are actually capacitors. You may only
have to recharge your cell phone once a month.

Types

There are a number of different chemistries, rechargeable and non rechargeable.
NiCad (Nickel/Cadmium) (obsolete), NiMH (Nickel/metal hydride), NiZn (Nickel/Zinc) and Lithium are
rechargeable. Alkaline (zinc/manganese dioxide), plain (zinc/carbon), heavy duty
(zinc/chloride) are not.

3V Lithium button cell

3V Lithium button cell

Button batteries are even more complicated. There are 6 different chemistries and
12 different sizes. You are best to take your old battery to the dealer. These are
used in watches, body weight scales, flying toys… where there is not enough
space for a traditional dry cell.

Tips

Lithium batteries are light weight.

NiMH batteries stop working below freezing.

NiZn batteries have a voltage of 1.65 to 1.85 volts, too high for devices not specifically designed for them.

Some cells are rechargeable, some are not. It is dangerous to attempt to recharge
non-rechargeable batteries.

Alkaline last longer than zinc/carbon.

Lithium give higher performance.

In
my experience the highly advertised brands Duracell and Energizer do last
longer, but not usually enough longer to justify the premium price.

The problem with
bargain batteries is they are likely to leak and then destroy the containing device.

Oddly, the smaller AAA batteries often cost more than AA batteries.

Polarity

Batteries are polar. In other words, it matters which way around you put them in.
The negative electrons come out the negative (-) flat base and circulate back in the
positive (+) nub top. Usually you are not supposed to insert batteries all the same
way. You are supposed to place them in some special pattern which will be faintly
embossed on the device. If not, look for spiral spring contacts. They tend to go
against the flat negative bottoms.

For button batteries, one side of the disk has a (+) engraved on it. Usually that
side is up when you insert the battery. There will be contacts for bottom (-) pole of
the battery and on the edge for the (+) pole. Getting a good contact with the edge
connector requires you to insert the battery and press straight down. It will click
as it catches under the edge contact.

Recharging

Rechargers are designed to take various numbers of cells, various sizes and
either/or lithium and nicad. A good charger will automatically stop charging when the
cell is charged and provide some indicator the cell is ready. Overcharging batteries
can damage them and even sometimes make them explode.

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I own several chargers including this model. It handles only AA and AAA. It automatically handles Nicad, NiMH and lithium. It comes with four NiMH batteries. It charges very quickly. According to the Duracell website:

red: means charging.

blinking red: means defective.

green: means charged.

blinking green: is not supposed to happen.

However, mine does not seem to behave that way. I think they have changed the meaning of the lights.

red means defective: charged as it will go.

blinking red: means defective but charging.

green: means charged.

blinking green: means charging.

no light: battery inserted backwards or not connected.

In other words blinking means charging, green means good. It automatically stops charging when done. It has a fan to keep the batteries cool while charging. It is a bit on the noisy side.

Cleaning and Corrosion

It is important to check for battery leaking before the corrosion destroys the
containing device. I treat all my battery contains with DeoxIT Red before using. This
helps clean, reduce corrosion and improve conductivity. If you see any corrosion,
discard the battery and clean off the contact thoroughly with contact cleaner such as
DeoxIT Red. If you let it pass, the device will be become useless.

I have a cupboard for batteries with jars for untested, known bad, known good
batteries. The bad batteries have to be taken in from time to time to a recycling
service. Batteries contain all manner of toxic chemicals, though mercury has been
discontinued. Don’t let your young kids play with batteries. It is quite
serious if they swallow one. Avoid handling the battery contacts. Finger prints and
grease will reduce conductivity.